The objective of this work was to characterize genetic variability among 116 accessions of assai palm of the Embrapa Eastern Amazon Germplasm Collection, were examined with microsatellite (SSR) markers. The 116 DNA sample were utilized in the reactions with seven SSR loci. The levels of polymorphism and Roger's genetic distance were estimated from allele frequencies and clustered with the UPGMA method. The seven SSR loci revealed 42 alleles, with average of 6 alleles per locus. The polymorphic information content (PIC) varied from 0.60 to 0.86, with average of 0.75 and observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosities were 0.54 and 0.75, respectively. The mean genetic distance between all accessions was 0.61, varying from 0.00 to 0.96. The UPGMA dendrogram presented six distinct groupings, delimited by the mean genetic distance (dg m = 0.61). The accessions of assai palm possess high diversity that may be explored in breeding program and germplasm organization, with at least, four highly divergent accessions.
Euterpe oleracea; germplasm; polymorphism; genetic diversity; SSR
